Good afternoon, everyone. Don't forget to check out our AU/UT basketball preview before the game today at 5pm. The men are looking to get their first road win since going to Hawaii and after losing two heartbreakers on the road against LSU and Arkansas, respectively.

Thank you to all of our followers. We have had a great first week and we plan to keep improving the site and the content. A few thoughts...

- People are quick to criticize when attendance at sporting events are low. We need to also be quick to applaud when attendance is outstanding. The atmosphere at Auburn arena was phenomenal. It may have had something to do with the opponent but it was a great sight to see. Our gymnastics team has gone from seemingly non existent a few years ago to standing toe to toe with the defending national champions. Hopefully they can beat Florida at home in a couple of weeks.

- I like to follow a few of the beat writers from around the SEC to get a feel for what is happening around the league. I have seen a few posts lately about AU being only a football school. They are certainly entitled to their opinion, but the Auburn athletic program's accomplishments over the last couple of years say otherwise. Since the spring of 2010, AU athletics has accomplished the following: 2010 SEC West baseball champions and hosted a regional, 2010 SEC West soccer champions, men's swimming extended their consecutive SEC championships to 15, everyone knows what happened in the 2010 football season, mens golf started the season ranked #1 in the country, and soccer won the SEC tournament in 2011. I would argue that we have had a successful last couple of years overall and not just in football.

- Baseball is starting soon. They started officially practicing yesterday. Like the last couple of years, our pitching will have to improve if we expect to compete for an SEC title. According to our own @AUPPL, AU has the tenth toughest schedule in the country. The SEC is arguably a better baseball conference than a football conference.

- National signing day is coming up and as we have documented here, it could be a great day on Wednesday or a "meh" day. We are in the top three for several top recruits and their decisions will make or break this class.

Have a great Saturday and War Eagle!

 

Auburn (12-8, 2-4) faces yet another road test in Knoxville on Saturday after a disappointing finish in their last game. The Tigers were looking for their first SEC road win but were unable to tie the game at the buzzer, falling to Arkansas 56-53 Tuesday night. Senior Kenny Gabriel put up 13 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Chris Denson and junior Frankie Sullivan each had 10 points. Auburn continued to outrebound its competition, 44-29, and despite a 7 point lead with 13 minutes left in the game, the pressure from the Razorbacks proved to be too much. Having junior Varez Ward and sophomore Josh Langford for less than a full half did not help matters. Both are expected to play Saturday.

Tennessee (9-11, 1-4) is also looking to pick up a win at home after a 65-47 loss in Nashville to Vanderbilt. Even with the debut of the orange blazer on Coach Cuonzo Martin, the Volunteers only managed to hit 1 of 7 three pointers. Junior Jeronne Maymon has his 12th double double for the season but only put up 10 points (the only double digit UT scorer in the game). The 47 points were a season low for the Vols. Vandy took the lead early and never let up.

 

Auburn-Tennessee Series History & Game Facts

•Auburn Head Coach: Tony Barbee (UMass ’93)
      at Auburn: 23-28 (.451), second year
      Overall: 105-80 (.568)

•Tennessee Head Coach: Cuonzo Martin (Purdue ’00)
      at Tennessee: 9-11 (.450), first year
      Overall: 70-52 (.574), fourth year

•Series Record: Vols leads 70-37
•at Auburn: Tigers leads 26-21
•at Knoxville: Vols leads 43-7, including 13-2 in Thompson-Boiling Arena
•Neutral Sites: Vols leads 6-4
•Current Streak: Vols by 3
•Last Meeting: Vols 69, AU 56

Auburn Basketball On the Air

Radio: Auburn IMG Sports Network, Saturday, 4:30 p.m. CT. Play-by-Play: Rod Bramlett, Color: Paul Ellen.
Satellite Radio: XM91 (UT Broadcast)
Internet Radio: auburntigers.com
TV: ESPN2, Saturday, 5 p.m. CT. Play-by-Play: Brad Nessler, Color: Jimmy Dykes.

At this point in the preview, I turn you guys over to our in house expert, Jared Robertson.

Tennessee Scouting Report

Tennessee is a very similair team to the Tigers. They play good defense and struggle to score with the ball at times. They lack a true center and have two-forward, three-guard lineup that is very physical and swarms to the ball on defense.

Freshman Jarnell Stokes is a load inside at 6'8 250, and Trae Golden has played very well for the Vols leading the team in scoring at 13.2 ppg, leading the SEC in assists with 5 per game.Senior gaurd Cameron Tatum has been through the good and bad at Tennessee and has always been a solid player for the Vols.

Tennessee will shoot alot of threes, with over a third of their FG attempts coming from behind the arc. Tennessee is traditionally very good at Thompson-Boiling Arena, and picked up a win over no. 13 UConn last Tuesday, 60-57. The Vols' lone league win came at home as well, beating Florida 67-56.

Tennessee will run a ball control offense and work for a good shot. Look for the Vols to start looking to Stokes more often and playing some inside out with him. They will try to get Stokes going early and hope to force the Tigers to double him, opening up some room for their three point shooters. On defense, the Vols won't press much but they do play very well on defense and rebound well. Stokes has made a real difference for this team on both sides of the ball, and Auburn will have to try and contain him inside and on the boards.

Key Stats

Tennessee has a slight lead in scoring (57.4) over Auburn (55.2). Both teams struggle to score at times, so it will be key for Auburn to take full advantage of each possession. The pace will favor niether team, as both teams like to work the ball in the half court for a good shot.

Scoring defense also slightly favors the Vols (61.0) over Auburn (62.3). Both teams will run a man defense, but you may see some zone from Tennessee since Auburn lacks a pure shooter outside of Frankie Sullivan. If the Vols do decide to zone Auburn, the Tigers need to take advantage and knock down some shots. When the Vols are in man, the Tigers need to execute their flex-style to get good shots and get in the paint.

Rebounding favors Auburn (37.3) over Tennessee (36.2). Both teams rebound very well and both are outrebounding their opponets by and average of 2 rpg. If Tennessee does go zone, the Tigers need to crash the offensive boards very hard. It is harder to rebound out of a zone since you're not assigned to one man. Auburn will need to run towards the glass before the Vols can put a body on them. Any extra oppurtunities to score in this game will come at a premium.

In terms of turnovers, Auburn (15.7) is turning it over two fewer times than Tennessee (17.4). Both teams are forcing 13.8 per game. Forcing turnovers will be a huge factor in this game, as they usually are in every game. Auburn needs to turn Tennessee turnovers into points, while limiting their own turnovers, especially on the road.

This game will come down to who can take advantage of possessions and who can protect the ball more. Both teams will struggle to score and both teams will rebound well. Getting anything easy will come at a premium and have a big factor on the outcome of the game.

After seeing Ann Lutzenkirchen, older sister of Philip, in an ESPNU promo the other night, we couldn't help but wonder what it was like to grow up in the Lutzenkirchen household. What was it like for Philip to grow up with three sisters? How in the world could the youngest Lutzie end up at Alabama? We couldn't stop thinking about these questions, and Ann was kind enough to answer a few questions via email to shed some light on what it was like to grow up in the House of Lutzie.

Read the rest of this post »

Losing hurts and it isn't supposed to be fun. 

Auburn fans probably had their stomachs drop a little when the final shot at the buzzer in last night's men's basketball game against the Arkansas Razorbacks went off the rim. We don't know if we could have gone into overtime and won that game. We do know one thing, though: These boys are fighters and are turning into a team before our eyes. They are not going to give up and we should not give up on them as fans. 

At the beginning of the season, this team went on the road against Seton Hall and got run out of the building by a score of 81-59. That Seton Hall team is now 15-5, by the way. 

We saw them go to Florida State (14-6) and get run out of the building again, 85-56. The lone road win for this Auburn team is against Hawai'i at the Diamond Head Classic.  

During the last couple of road games, however, there has been a new Auburn team playing. It is a team playing tenacious defense. It is a team that does not panic when the other team goes on a run. Are the games pretty? Not necessarily. But this team is almost there for the road games, and dare I say it, this team has arrived as a home team. 

There were stretches of the Ole Miss game a couple of weeks ago that were very business like.  Auburn played the entire game against South Carolina knowing it was the better team and expected to win. The fans are showing up and providing much needed support to our team.  Auburn will be a tough out at home for the remainder of the year.  

But back to the original point: This team will eventually learn to win on the road. It is easier said than done. They took on an Arkansas team that hasn't lost all year at home and that had just beaten Michigan, the #15 team in the country.

Last year, we saw Auburn become a team at the end of the season, and it was fun to watch. It's happening a little earlier this year. Enjoy watching this team grow up whether we win or lose. They are laying the foundation for the rest of the year and the for next few years. Losses like the one last night are not easy for them or us but the last couple of road game losses will galvanize this team. Eventually, we will get the bounces we need to get a win on the road.

Auburn is going to Tennessee on Saturday hungry for a road win. I can't say for certain we are going to come away with a W but I can say that I can finally expect a hard fought game and these boys to play until the final whistle.

         Ricardo Louis has decommitted from FSU and reopened his commitment according to Bryan Matthews of 247sports. Louis was a long time Auburn commit but began having second thoughts about his commitment after the departure of Gus Malzahn. New OC Scot Loeffler and Trooper Taylor visited Ricardo last night and it appears that Loeffler made an impression on him, causing him to give Auburn another look. Louis now plans to make a final decision on signing day. It looks to be between Auburn and FSU battle for the athletic Florida native, but Georgia is still fighting for a visit.